#Israel-Hamaswar #Israel #Israelgovernment #Internationalagreements
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Israeli military renewed calls Monday for mass evacuations from the southern town Khan Younis, where tens of thousands displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in recent weeks as it expands its ground offensive and s targets along the Gaza Strip. The expanded operations, which followed the end of a week-long ceasefire, aim to eliminate Hamas leaders in Gaza, whose attack on Israel on October 7 triggered the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent years. The war has already killed thousands Palestinians and displaced more than three-quarters of the region's population 2.3 million, who have nowhere safe to go. Already under increasing pressure from its biggest ally, the United States, Israel appears be racing to deal a fatal blow Hamas ahead of any new ceasefire – if that is even possible, given the group's deep roots in Palestinian society. But rising cost of conflict, which Palestinian health officials say has left hundreds of civilians dead since ceasefire ended on Friday, is likely further increase international pressure to return negotiating table. It can also make larger parts of the isolated area uninhabitable. The ground offensive has turned much of the north, including large areas of Gaza City, into a rubble-strewn wasteland. Hundreds thousands of people have sought refuge in the south, some whom may suffer the same fate, and both Israel and neighboring Egypt have refused to accept any refugees. CONFLICTS IN CENTRAL GAZA Residents said on Monday they heard airstrikes and explosions in and around Khan Younis overnight after the military dropped leaflets warning people to move further south towards the Egyptian border. The military ordered the evacuation of nearly two dozen neighborhoods in and around the town. Later in day, military warned civilians to avoid main north-south highway between Khan Younis and central Deir al-Balah, saying road had become a "battlefield" and was "extremely dangerous". This indicated that Israeli troops were approaching Khan Younis from the northeast, possibly with plans to separate central Gaza from the south. Palestinians injured in Israeli ardment of the Gaza Strip are taken to the hospital in Deir al Balah on Sunday, December 3, 2023. Al Jazeera television broadcast s of paramedics rescuing people injured in the incident that apparently crashed into a vehicle on the highway. An Israeli tank could be seen just up the road. Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the army was pursuing Hamas "with maximum force" in the north and south and was trying to minimize damage to civilians. He pointed a map dividing southern Gaza into dozens of blocks to give residents "precise instructions" on where evacuate. But many Palestinians have ignored past evacuation orders, saying they did not feel safer in areas where they were told to take shelter and were also repeatedly ed. Meanwhile, army banned those who fled the north from returning, even during ceasefire. “
